Conductive fabric and manufacturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

Provided are a conductive fabric and a manufacturing method thereof. The conductive fabric has a structure in which warp yarns and weft yarns are interwoven with each other, wherein at least one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns includes carbon nanotube fibers, the carbon nanotube fibers contain N-doped carbon nanotubes, the nitrogen content in each of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber, and the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the conductive fabric is at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the conductive fabric.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present invention relates to a fabric and a manufacturing method thereof, and particularly relates to a conductive fabric and a manufacturing method thereof.

Description of Related Art

In today’s textile industry, fabrics with various functions have been widely used. By interweaving different types of fibers to form a fabric, the fabric may have different functions. For example, fibers with electrical conductivity may be used in functional clothing. In addition, the clothing with sufficient electrical conductivity may reduce or avoid the occurrence of static electricity. Therefore, how to improve the electrical conductivity of the fabric has become one of the urgent research topics in the industry.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a conductive fabric, which is woven from carbon nanotube fibers containing nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanotubes.

The present invention provides a manufacturing method of a conductive fabric, in which carbon nanotube fibers containing N-doped carbon nanotubes are used for weaving.

A conductive fabric of the present invention has a structure in which warp yarns and weft yarns are interwoven with each other, wherein at least one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns includes carbon nanotube fibers containing N-doped carbon nanotubes, the nitrogen content in each of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber, and the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the conductive fabric is at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the conductive fabric.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, the carbon nanotube fibers contain natural fiber material.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, the natural fiber material includes cotton, linen, wool, rabbit hair, silk, tencel or coffee.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, the diameter of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 10 nm and 100 nm.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, the density of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 0.5 g/cm³ and 1.8 g/cm³.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, the material of the weft yarns is the same as the material of the warp yarns.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, the material of the weft yarns is different from the material of the warp yarns.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns includes the carbon nanotube fibers, and the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns includes cotton fiber yarn, linen fiber yarn, wool fiber yarn, rabbit hair fiber yarn, silk fiber yarn, tencel fiber yarn, coffee fiber yarn, nylon fiber yarn, polyester fiber yarn, rayon fiber yarn, acrylic fiber yarn or polyurethane fiber yarn.

In an embodiment of the conductive fabric of the present invention, the diameter of the fiber constituting the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns is between 10 nm and 10⁶ nm.

A manufacturing method of a conductive fabric of the present invention includes the following steps. N-doped carbon nanotubes are grown on a substrate. A drawing processing is performed on the N-doped carbon nanotubes to form carbon nanotube fibers, wherein the nitrogen content of each of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber. A spinning processing is performed on the carbon nanotube fibers to form carbon nanotube fiber yarns. A weaving process is performed on the carbon nanotube fiber yarns. The content of N-doped carbon nanotubes in the conductive fabric is at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the conductive fabric.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the carbon nanotubes is further mixed with natural fiber material after forming the carbon nanotubes but before the drawing process.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the natural fiber material includes cotton, linen, wool, rabbit hair, silk, tencel or coffee.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the diameter of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 5 nm and 100 nm.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the density of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 0.5 g/cm³ and 1.8 g/cm³.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the carbon nanotube fiber yarns are used as one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns, and the material of the weft yarns is different from the material of the warp yarns during the weaving process.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns includes the carbon nanotube fibers, and the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns includes cotton fiber yarn, linen fiber yarn, wool fiber yarn, rabbit hair fiber yarn, silk fiber yarn, tencel fiber yarn, coffee fiber yarn, nylon fiber yarn, polyester fiber yarn, rayon fiber yarn, acrylic fiber yarn or polyurethane fiber yarn.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the diameter of the fiber constituting the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns is between 10 nm and 106 nm.

In an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present invention, the material of the weft yarns is the same as the material of the warp yarns.

Based on the above, in the conductive fabric of the present invention, yarns containing carbon nanotube fibers each with the nitrogen content between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber are used as warp yarns and/or weft yarns, and the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the conductive fabric is at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the conductive fabric. Therefore, the conductive fabric of the present invention may have excellent electrical conductivity, and thus the occurrence of static electricity may be reduced or avoided.

To make the aforementioned more comprehensible, several embodiments accompanied with drawings are described in detail as follows.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a manufacturing flow chart of a conductive fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of a conductive fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of a conductive fabric according to another embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. In addition, the drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not drawn to the original dimensions. For the sake of easy understanding, the same elements in the following description will be denoted by the same reference numerals.

In the text, the terms mentioned in the text, such as “comprising”, “including”, “containing” and “having” are all open-ended terms, i.e., meaning “including but not limited to”.

In addition, in the text, the range represented by “a value to another value” is a summary expression way to avoid listing all the values in the range one by one in the specification. Therefore, the record of a specific numerical range covers any numerical value within the numerical range, as well as a smaller numerical range defined by any numerical value within the numerical range.

In the present invention, yarns containing carbon nanotube fibers each with the nitrogen content is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber are used as warp yarns and/or weft yarns and woven to form a fabric. Further, in the fabric, the content of N-doped carbon nanotubes is at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the fabric. Therefore, the formed fabric may have an excellent electrical conductivity, and thus the occurrence of static electricity may be reduced or avoided. In particular, when the fabric of the present invention is applied to clothing, the discomfort caused by static electricity during wearing may be effectively reduced or avoided. The conductive fabric of the present invention and the manufacturing method thereof will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a manufacturing flow chart of a conductive fabric according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1 , in step 100, N-doped carbon nanotubes are grown on a substrate. The substrate may be a silicon oxide substrate. The method of growing N-doped carbon nanotubes is, for example, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process and an N-doping treatment performed in-situ. In the present embodiment, the nitrogen content in each of the formed carbon nanotubes is controlled so that the nitrogen content of each of the sequentially formed carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber. During the growth of carbon nanotubes, the parameters of the deposition process may be adjusted to obtain carbon nanotubes with the required diameter and the required growth density. In addition, before performing the deposition process, a layer of metal particles may be formed on the substrate as a catalytic layer. The material of the metal particles is, for example, iron, nickel, cobalt, aluminum or a combination thereof. By controlling the distribution of metal particles, the physical properties such as the diameter and growth density of the formed carbon nanotubes may be further adjusted.

Then, in step 102, a drawing process is performed on the formed carbon nanotubes to form carbon nanotube fibers. In the present embodiment, the nitrogen content of each of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber depending on the control of the formation of the carbon nanotubes. The steps of the drawing process includes, for example, using a tape to stick a corner of the substrate on which carbon nanotubes are formed and pulling it out in a direction perpendicular to the growth direction of the carbon nanotubes. At this time, the carbon nanotubes on the substrate are arranged in a filamentary manner due to Van Der Waal force, forming carbon nanotube fibers.

In the present embodiment, the nitrogen content in each of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber. By doping the carbon nanotubes with nitrogen atoms, the lattice arrangement of the carbon nanotubes may be altered to increase the mobility of electrons for increasing the electrical conductivity of the carbon nanotubes. As a result, after the fabric is made with the carbon nanotube fibers, the static electricity generated by the fabric may be reduced or avoided. When the nitrogen content of each of the carbon nanotube fibers is more than 5 wt%, since the lattice of the carbon nanotubes may be altered, the electrical conductivity of the carbon nanotube fiber may be greatly reduced. When the nitrogen content of each of the carbon nanotube fibers is less than 1 wt%, since the nitrogen content is too low, the electrical conductivity of the carbon nanotube fiber is too low. When the nitrogen content is between 2 wt% to 3.5 wt%, the electrical conductivity of the formed carbon nanotube fiber may be raised to close to 20000 s/cm.

In addition, in step 102, depending on actual needs, carbon nanotubes may be optionally pre-mixed with natural fiber materials, and then subjected to the drawing process. In this way, carbon nanotube fibers with natural fiber characteristics may be formed. The natural fiber material may be cotton, linen, wool, rabbit hair, silk, tencel or coffee. For example, when carbon nanotubes are mixed with cotton, the carbon nanotube fibers formed by the drawing process may have both the characteristics of carbon nanotubes and the characteristics of cotton. The diameter of the formed carbon nanotube fiber is, for example, between 5 nm and 100 nm. When the diameter of the carbon nanotube fiber is greater than 100 nm, the electrical conductivity of the carbon nanotube fiber may be significantly reduced. When the diameter of the carbon nanotube fiber is less than 5 nm, the carbon nanotube fiber may not have sufficient mechanical strength and is easily broken. In addition, depending on the growth density of carbon nanotubes, the density of the formed carbon nanotube fibers is, for example, between 0.5 g/cm³ and 1.8 g/cm³.

Next, in step 104, the formed carbon nanotube fibers are subjected to a spinning process to form carbon nanotube fiber yarns. At this time, the carbon nanotube fiber yarns may have various required characteristics depending on the components in the previously formed carbon nanotube fibers, which is not limited in the present invention. The spinning process is well known to those skilled in the art, and will not be further described here. In addition, the formed carbon nanotube fiber yarns may have a required diameter depending on the actual situation, which is not limited in the present invention. In the above-mentioned spinning process, the formed carbon nanotube fibers may be mixed with other fibers to form a carbon nanotube fiber yarn.

After that, in step 106, the formed carbon nanotube fiber yarns are woven to form a fabric. In the fabric of the present embodiment, the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes must be at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the fabric. In this way, the fabric of the present embodiment may have sufficient electrical conductivity to serve as a conductive fabric. When the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes is less than 0.1 wt%, the formed fabric may not have sufficient electrical conductivity, and thus may not be used as a conductive fabric.

Depending on actual needs, only the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes may be used to manufacture the conductive fabric of the present invention. Alternatively, the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes and any existing yarns may be used together to manufacture the conductive fabric of the present invention. This will be described below.

In the case of using only the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes to manufacture a conductive fabric of the present invention, the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes are used as warp yarns and weft yarns and a weaving process is performed, such that warp yarns and weft yarns are interwoven to form a fabric, and the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the fabric must be at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the fabric. In other words, the material of warp yarns is the same as that of weft yarns, and the total content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the warp yarns and weft yarns is at least 0.1 wt%. As shown in FIG. 2 , the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes are used as warp yarns 200 and weft yarns 202, respectively, the warp yarns 200 and weft yarns 202 are interwoven to form a conductive fabric 10, and the total content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the warp yarns 200 and weft yarns 202 is at least 0.1 wt%. However, the present invention does not limit the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the warp yarns 200 and the weft yarns 202, respectively. Depending on the actual application, the conductive fabric 10 may have various weaving densities, which is not limited in the present invention.

Since the entire of the conductive fabric 10 is woven by using the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes, the conductive fabric 10 has the same characteristics as the carbon nanotube fiber yarns. For example, depending on the characteristics of the carbon nanotube fiber yarns itself, the conductive fabric 10 made of only the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes may have good mechanical strength, stain resistance and ductility. In addition, since carbon nanotubes are artificially synthesized material, they have lower microbial adhesion and inertness compared with natural material. Therefore, the toxin content in conductive fabric 10 may be lower than that of natural material, and the conductive fabric 10 is not easy to react with external substances and cause deterioration.

In the case of using the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes and any existing yarns to manufacture a conductive fabric of the present invention, the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes are used as one of warp yarns and weft yarns and the any existing yarns are used as the other of warp yarns and weft yarns, and a weaving process is performed, such that warp yarns and weft yarns are interwoven to form a fabric, and the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the fabric must be at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the fabric. In other words, the material of warp yarns is different from that of weft yarns, and the total content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the warp yarns or the weft yarns using the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes must be at least 0.1 wt%. As shown in FIG. 3 , the carbon nanotube fiber yarns containing the N-doped carbon nanotubes are used as the warp yarns 200 and the any existing yarns are used as the weft yarns 204, and the warp yarns 200 and the weft yarns 204 are interwoven to form the conductive fabric 20, and the total content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the warp yarns 200 is at least 0.1 wt%. Depending on the actual application, the conductive fabric 20 may have various weaving densities, which is not limited in the present invention. The weft yarns 204 may be cotton fiber yarn, linen fiber yarn, wool fiber yarn, rabbit hair fiber yarn, silk fiber yarn, tencel fiber yarn, coffee fiber yarn, nylon fiber yarn, polyester fiber yarn, rayon fiber yarn, acrylic fiber yarn or polyurethane fiber yarn. In addition, in this case, the diameter of the fibers constituting the weft yarns 204 is, for example, between 10 nm and 10⁶ nm.

Since the conductive fabric 20 is woven by using the carbon nanotube fiber yarns of the present invention and the any existing yarns, the conductive fabric 20 may have the same characteristics as the conductive fabric 10 and also have characteristics as the any existing yarns. Therefore, the conductive fabric 20 may better meet the actual needs and have a wider range of applications.

The conductive fabric of the present invention will be described below with experimental example.

Experimental Example

First, benzylamine (Benzylamine ReagentPlus®, 99%, Sigma-Aldrich, USA) and ferrocene (CAS No. 102-54-5, Sigma-Aldrich, USA) as a catalyst are atomized by using an atomizer, introduced into a quartz tube by a mixing gas of hydrogen (15%) and argon, and carbon nanotubes are grown on a silicon oxide substrate at 850° C., wherein the growth density of the carbon nanotubes on the silicon oxide substrate is 10¹² count/cm², the nitrogen content of each of the carbon nanotube fibers is 2.5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber, the diameter of the carbon nanotube is about 40 nm, and the electrical conductivity of the carbon nanotube fiber is about 18900 S/cm. Then, a drawing process is performed to obtain carbon nanotube fibers. Next, the carbon nanotube fibers are spun to form carbon nanotube fiber yarns. Afterwards, the carbon nanotube fiber yarns are weaved by a plain weave method to obtain a conductive fabric, wherein the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the conductive fabric is 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the conductive fabric, and the electrical conductivity of the conductive fabric is about 1000±800 S/cm.

Comparative Example 1

Except that the carbon nanotube fibers are not doped with nitrogen, the fabric was prepared in the same way as in Experimental Example 1. Since the carbon nanotube fiber is not doped with nitrogen and thus the carbon nanotube fiber has very low electrical conductivity, about 100 S/cm, the electrical conductivity of the fabric in Comparative example 1 cannot be measured.

Comparative Example 2

Except that the nitrogen content of the carbon nanotube fibers in the conductive fabric is 7 wt%, the conductive fabric was prepared in the same way as in Experimental Example 1. Since the carbon nanotube fiber is doped with too much nitrogen and thus the electrical conductivity of the carbon nanotube fiber is greatly reduced to 5000 S/cm, the electrical conductivity of the fabric in Comparative example 2 is much lower than that in Experimental example.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the disclosure. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the disclosure covers modifications and variations provided that they fall within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A conductive fabric, having a structure in which warp yarns and weft yarns are interwoven with each other, wherein at least one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns comprises carbon nanotube fibers, the carbon nanotube fibers contain nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanotubes, the nitrogen content of each of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber, and the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the conductive fabric is at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the conductive fabric.
 2. The conductive fabric of claim 1, wherein the carbon nanotube fibers contain natural fiber material.
 3. The conductive fabric of claim 2, wherein the natural fiber material comprises cotton, linen, wool, rabbit hair, silk, tencel or coffee.
 4. The conductive fabric of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 10 nm and 100 nm.
 5. The conductive fabric of claim 1, wherein the density of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 0.5 g/cm³ and 1.8 g/cm³.
 6. The conductive fabric of claim 1, wherein the material of the weft yarns is the same as the material of the warp yarns.
 7. The conductive fabric of claim 1, wherein the material of the weft yarns is different from the material of the warp yarns.
 8. The conductive fabric of claim 7, wherein one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns comprises the carbon nanotube fibers, and the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns comprises cotton fiber yarn, linen fiber yarn, wool fiber yarn, rabbit hair fiber yarn, silk fiber yarn, tencel fiber yarn, coffee fiber yarn, nylon fiber yarn, polyester fiber yarn, rayon fiber yarn, acrylic fiber yarn or polyurethane fiber yarn.
 9. The conductive fabric of claim 8, wherein the diameter of the fiber constituting the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns is between 10 nm and 10⁶ nm.
 10. A manufacturing method of a conductive fabric, comprising: growing nitrogen-doped (N-doped) carbon nanotubes on a substrate; performing a drawing process to draw the N-doped carbon nanotubes to form carbon nanotube fibers, wherein the nitrogen content of each of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 1 wt% to 5 wt% based on the total weight of the carbon nanotube fiber; performing a spinning process to spin the carbon nanotube fibers to form carbon nanotube fiber yarns; and performing a weaving process to weave the carbon nanotube fiber yarns, wherein the content of the N-doped carbon nanotubes in the conductive fabric is at least 0.1 wt% based on the total weight of the conductive fabric.
 11. The manufacturing method of claim 10, further comprising: mixing the carbon nanotubes with natural fiber material after forming the carbon nanotubes but before the drawing process.
 12. The manufacturing method of claim 11, wherein the natural fiber material comprises cotton, linen, wool, rabbit hair, silk, tencel or coffee.
 13. The manufacturing method of claim 10, wherein the diameter of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 5 nm and 100 nm.
 14. The manufacturing method of claim 10, wherein the density of the carbon nanotube fibers is between 0.5 g/cm³ and 1.8 g/cm³.
 15. The manufacturing method of claim 10, wherein the carbon nanotube fiber yarns are used as one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns, and the material of the weft yarns is different from the material of the warp yarns during the weaving process.
 16. The manufacturing method of claim 15, wherein one of the warp yarns and the weft yarns comprises the carbon nanotube fibers, and the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns comprises cotton fiber yarn, linen fiber yarn, wool fiber yarn, rabbit hair fiber yarn, silk fiber yarn, tencel fiber yarn, coffee fiber yarn, nylon fiber yarn, polyester fiber yarn, rayon fiber yarn, acrylic fiber yarn or polyurethane fiber yarn.
 17. The manufacturing method of claim 16, wherein the diameter of the fiber constituting the other of the warp yarns and the weft yarns is between 10 nm and 10⁶ nm.
 18. The manufacturing method of claim 10, wherein the material of the weft yarns is the same as the material of the warp yarns. 